So after an excellent first season we decided to close the gite down for the winter. We decided to combine the close-down with a weeks holiday and we had a fantastic time, here’s the post on the holiday. So apart from having a wonderful holiday what did we do to shut the gite down for winter.

Well the main thing was to give it a really good clean, to try and make sure that there isn’t anything for any mould  to grow on. We decided to leave all of the cupboards and draws open when we left, so that the air would circulate and they wouldn’t get damp and musty over winter. As we have a septic tank we normally have to top-up the bacteria with a weekly solution. As nobody was going to be there for quite a while we bought some that actually lasted six months.

The biggest job was in the garden really. There we trimmed all of the hedges back, cut the trees back and generally gave it a really good tidy, so that hopefully when we come back in spring it won’t need much to get it ready for the new season. We also took down the net for the trampoline and covered the mat, hopefully it will give it some protection from frosts and snow over the winter months.

Finally, on leaving, we drained the water out of the system and shut the gas and electricity off. We have arranged for the gite to be checked every month or so by Alison and Tony, who look after things for us, just to make sure the roof hasn’t blown off or any trees haven’t fallen down and causing a nuisance for our lovely neighbours.

Well that’s it for our first season, I’ll write a little summary of how it went soon. Next trip over will be in March to open the gite up for our second season.

2 Bedroom Cottage / Gite near Dinan, Brittany, France

Buying, Owning and Running a Gite in Brittany Blog

©Derek Arkwright 2008